Taipei 101

 

         The Emporis Skyscraper Award winner in 2004, the Taipei 101 tower is currently the tallest skyscraper in the world (until the Burj Dubai is completed) at over 1,670ft to the antenna. Newsweek Magazine has even hailed Taipei 101 as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World while the Discovery Channel calls it one of the Seven Wonders of Engineering. Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and small earthquakes. 36 columns support the immense weight of the tower, including 8 larger columns filled with 10,000 psi concrete that makes this tower one of the most stable skyscrapers ever constructed. In order to minimise the swaying-effect in highest points of the building, caused by wind, engineers created a 662 metric tonne steel pendulum that hangs from the 92nd floor. This pendulum sways to offset the effects of the wind, and thus, keeps the tower stable. Each of the $2 million elevators can reach speeds of almost 38 mph, the current world record. The total cost of this 5 year construction project, completed in 2004, was about $1.758 billion.